Maya
by adamindgirl
Summary: Maya must not only face the strange men trying to kill her but also a deranged slayer, infatuated guy, scary-cat shapeshifter, and then theres that pesky soulmate thing.
1. Chapter 1

*I'm new at this so I'm not sure how it works but here goes: The Night World and all its concepts are property of L.J. Smith. Only the characters are mine*  
  
  
  
They came out of the forest silently and intently, like the night in its wake, creeping ever so slowly across the earth. Their long, dark robes barley swept the ground and it seemed that not even the fierce wind and thundering storm could faze them. There were eight of them, four spread apart from the others, cornering the group. One walked in front, the rest walked in the middle. In the arms of one of them was a small bundle.  
  
The moon, struggled against the turbulent rain clouds to be shone, succeeding in eerily marking their path out of the forest and into the small farm that bordered it. Up ahead, a strong, wire fence enclosed the pasture, as the group approached it bend without resistance as if by magic. They passed it without a glance and kept their steady pace until the arrived at the modest farmhouse made of weathering bricks.  
  
The door was open and on the threshold stood a young couple. Their gazes were wide but they were not frightened. The group halted in unison in front of the porch. The women took a step forward, breaking away from the man's clutch. The leader parted from the front and the one with the bundle stepped forward. The women eagerly held out her arms and it was placed in her arms. She hurried inside but the man waited still.  
  
The leader gazed intensely at the man, as if judging his worth and when he was not found lacking, he moved aside his robe and reached for the sword that swung loosely at his side. He handed it to the farmer and he took it silently with a mix hesitance and awe.  
  
He held the sword in front of his eyes. The farmer noted its graceful curve. All around the handle were elegant loops of some sort. The markings on the sword were intricate patterns of a spell. The language it was written in could not be translated. It was ancient and no longer spoken except maybe by a handful of people. The spell itself was meant for protection, protection of any kind and its capacities were astounding. But he did not know any of this.  
  
The man swiftly made a beautiful arch. The edges gleamed as they reflected beams of moonlight that penetrated through the cracks of clustered clouds. Its power could be felt with every stroke he made. The hand of the leader stopped him from continuing his fascination.  
  
"It is not for you." The simple words, spoken thick with an ancient accent to a language he would never understand, halted his play.  
  
The simple farmer nodded and entered his home.  
  
The group resumed their positions and return deep into the dark forest from where they had came from.  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
"Trash that is what you are." Victor Redfern muttered to her from behind, loud enough for all the vampires in the room to hear but low enough so none of the humans could detect. "Trash is what you will always be."  
  
Ignore him, girl, I order you to ignore him. He's just wants you to lose your temper.  
  
Maya Kaspar didn't turn around. By all outward appearances she wasn't in the slight bit bother by his comment.  
  
I would watch what you're saying Victor. At least I wasn't name out of some Baby Names for Humans book.  
  
She could feel his glare in the back of her head. His hostility all but poured out of him.  
  
Yeah, well what can I say? My parents were idiots. A sudden stillness overtook his body. Maybe I should both our misery Maya and stick this pencil in you right now. Right through the heart.  
  
Her whole body tensed. She refuse show him her fear. Damn it! If only she hadn't somehow wounded up sitting right behind him but in a small town like Turlane, the senior class consisted of twenty-eight people. The principle saw no reason why they shouldn't all take classes together.  
  
For some reason Victor Redfern had made it his goal in life to make Maya miserable. It had been the like that since kindergarten when he cut her pigtails one day during naptime. It had been like that last week when he punched the air out of her Volkswagen's tires.  
  
She deliberately made her voice low and dangerous. "Listen Vicky you can go right ahead but our very own slayer will take it as an excuse to finally get rid of you."  
  
The humans in the class were startled by the sudden outburst of laughter that came out of some of their fellow classmates. What they didn't know, that cause so much amusement was the fact that the town slayer wasn't very effective. In fact, all the qualities that a great slayer possessed were seriously lacking in Dylan Gallenghar.  
  
He was more like the school policy enforcer and made sure none of the vampires, and one shapeshifter got out of line. Dylan had sort of fallen into slayering. He had found two passing vampires out in the forest one time feeding on a deer. He had followed them put one and two together and stumbled into the Night World.  
  
Being the normally lax lamia they were, the vampires had slept late into the morning. Wanting a closer look, he crept over them a piece of wood in hand and tripped on one. The wood had penetrated the heart and in an instant the vampire mummified before him. Dylan had tried to run but tripped again and in went the stick into the other.  
  
After that he had hunted everyone in town in the quest to find more and when he did, he decided it wasn't worth the effort, that is after Victor bloodied him to a pulp. By Night World law he should have been killed but nobody thought it was worth the effort. Dylan was harmless and right now in class, he was staring at them through lowered eyes.  
  
The bell rang and they were dismissed. Maya quickly made her way out of the classroom and out the small schoolhouse. She was very aware of someone following her. She stood facing her car and waited for him to say something.  
  
"It is a pity, isn't it?"  
  
She turned around to face the sandy hair young man. His dark eyes guarded and intimidating were heavy-lidded by long lashes. He smiled at her and all the sternness of his usually serious face melted away.  
  
Maya felt a sweet pang in her heart whenever he looked at her that way. His grin widen, Kage Thorsen knew exactly what he did to her. That bastard.  
  
He was a made vampire, his exact age nobody knew. He had just shown up one day in town, claiming to be tired of the mundane but not wanting to be in a coven. All the girls were crazy about him, and he knew this, thus his presence in school. Victor despised him, for this Maya admired him.  
  
"What is a pity?" She asked him.  
  
He nudged his head to the right. She turned to find Victor staring daggers at hers from shifting eyes with its many colors woven into their depths, constantly shifting depending on his mood. Right now, his eyes were a brilliant shade of blue, the state they normally were when looking at Maya. He walked over to his car and the beautiful dark, curly mane of his disappeared inside. The sleek back car peeled out of the parking lot leaving dust in its wake.  
  
She laughed. "That he is."  
  
He shook his head in silent laughter. "It wasn't what I meant." He climbed into his own classy silver car and drove off. Just before he was out of side he stuck his hand out the window and waved.  
  
She grunted in disgust. How come she didn't have a cool car? 


	2. Chapter 2

Maya drove to the edge of the forest. This was her favorite place to be, where none would bother her and she could contemplate life in silence. The woods were enchanting. Her barks were strong and mighty, up and up they went to the never-ending sky. Leaves so green that even to winter they would not shield, for they remain in their spring color, even as flakes of snow cover all that was in their path.  
  
They were the wonder of Turlane. People from thousands of miles away came to see them. Scientist from around the world came to study them. Even the Crone herself had come to gaze at their splendor, that had been a quite a spectacle, with all the witches in the area, all five of them, falling over themselves trying to pay respect.  
  
She left her car outside the forest perimeter and walked deep into it. She arrived at her favorite spot, where a tree had been struck down the middle by lightning, and it branched out like to rainbows. She hopped on one of the arches stretching her body. Her eyes drifted up and she was startled to find a pair of golden one staring back at her, their face hidden among the dense leaves.  
  
"Kisha?"  
  
The leaves raddled heavily and Maya took it as a yes. "What are you doing there?"  
  
She heard a small meow and then, "I got scared."  
  
"Scared? Scared of what?" Knowing Kisha, it would be something very petty. Kisha Monroe was a scary-cat, in ever sense of the word. She was the only shapeshifter in school and junior. She was shy and scared of her own shadow. Kisha gave a new definition of paranoid. It pained Maya to admit it put the girl's only saving grace was her beauty.  
  
She was a rare one indeed. Her smooth, caramel skin had an eerie glow to it. Her long blond hair was intertwined with bronze highlights and her eyes were golden and long dark lashes envelop them. Her features were very aristocratic and at the moment set in fear. What made the situation comical was the fact that Kisha was leopard, a fiercest cat of the wild.  
  
"I've seen people."  
  
Maya nodded. "Yes, that tends to happen often in a small town."  
  
Kisha's head popped out of the leaves. "No! I mean strangers. They were here looking for something."  
  
"What's so scary about that? It could have been tourist."  
  
"No, they were dress weird. They weren't humans but they weren't Night World people either. So, I hid up here till they went away." "Well they're gone. You can come down now."  
  
"Okay, but only if you're sure they're gone." Slowly her willowy figure appeared. She smiled timidly at her. "Hey"  
  
Maya looked at her incredulously. "Kish you are really something. So what were you doing here?"  
  
She looked away, "I like to come here. How about you?"  
  
"So do I." Maya laughed. "What a day."  
  
Kisha's golden eyes shone with curiosity. "What happened?"  
  
Her black hair swirled about her, as she shook her head. "Nothing much, I only got harassed by Victor, again.  
  
"That guy needs serious therapy. If my brother had been there, he would have put him in his place. Gabriel is nothing like me."  
  
She said the last part sadly. Maya's heart went out to her. She thought maybe that was what Kisha's problem was, Gabriel. He had always been so perfect, so gorgeous, so everything. Poor Kisha having to live in her brother's shadow.  
  
She sign and averted her gaze. The flapping of a robe caught her attention. She turned, up some distance were five men in white, hooded robes. They looked very dangerous, holding bows and arrows in their hands.  
  
"Ah, Kish, I think your friends are back."  
  
The fear returned to her eyes, and her features harden. Her whole demeanor changed and May thought she would flee. It wasn't until an arrow flew directly at Maya and missed by her amazing reflexes, that Kisha ran.  
  
Maya immediately ran after her. She matched Kisha's step by step. Easily getting into an even rhythm. "Wait!"  
  
Kisha didn't even paused. "Get away from me! They're after you! Didn't you see that guy trying to kill you?"  
  
Maya held the urge to trip her. "You don't know that. You were there too!"  
  
"But they shot at YOU!" Maya was save from responding by the sound of a motorcycle. It sped right up to them, propping itself right in front of them. They stopped and found themselves looking at Victor.  
  
"What are you psychos doing?"  
  
At that moment arrows began to be shot their way. Kisha and Maya looked at each other and in unison climbed in back of Victor.  
  
"What the hell." His angry words were stopped by an arrow that penetrated into his helmet that hanged loosely at one of the handles.  
  
"Go!" They ordered him.  
  
He drove out with all the speed his bike would go. "What in God's name have you idiots get me into?"  
  
"Just drive Redfern." Maya ordered from behind him.  
  
"Drive where?"  
  
"Just go deeper into the forest, go east, there's a spot I know where it's safe." Kisha told him  
  
Victor continued with Kisha's directions. For once she had her fear under control. This time it was Maya that kept looking back to see if they were being followed. The sun had begun to slowly set and darkness crept into their mist. It seemed like they drove for hours until they arrived at small clearing where a cryptic old cottage sat.  
  
They walked towards it in silence; even Victor had shut his mouth. They were startled when they heard noises from inside. All three cautiously peeked in from the window and gasped when they saw Kage inside, with a girl, or rather inside a girl.  
  
Victor's laughter made Kage look up and his white teeth were stained with blood. He snarled. "Get the hell away from here."  
  
All were surprise when Kisha was the one who answered. "No, Kage you get the hell away from here. This is my place."  
  
Apparently Kage got the message because he got up immediately and they three stepped away to give them privacy.  
  
"Wasn't that Mrs. Trina?" Victor asked, rubbing his chin in contemplation.  
  
"Our English teacher?" 


	3. Chapter 3

Once over their initial shock, they sat around the porch waiting for Kage to get out. Maya kept averting her glance towards the way they had come. She strain to see any sign of white robes. Kisha was simmering in silence. Apparently the disrespecting of her favorite hideaway had knocked the fear out of her. Victor was mussing about their English teacher and her sudden lost of inhibitions, she had always seemed so prim.  
  
Mrs. Trina was the first to come out. Her was gaze was disoriented and she walked trance-like. They had no doubt Kage had use mind control on her, not for sex, Kage was renown for his sexual prowess but because of the feeding. The trio saw her disappear by the way they had come.  
  
"Shouldn't someone stop her? There are dangerous men out there."  
  
Victor raised a beautifully arch eyebrow at Kisha. "No, its not her they're after. Its our very own weirdo-magnet here."  
  
"Kisha?" Kage asked from the door.  
  
Kisha held the urge to jump him. She felt the tips of her claws pierce her palm. She extended her clutch fists to relax. "No Kage, Maya."  
  
"Hey!" Maya was deeply offended. It was bad enough having to be name after some legendary Vamp who according to rumor was obsesses with the first made vampire. Didn't anybody thing she was normal?  
  
"Sorry Maya." Kisha smiled apologetically.  
  
"So what are you three stooges doing here? And what's' this about dangerous men?" "None of your business."  
  
Kage blinked down at Victor. "God Vicky you don't have to be so uptight about it."  
  
Maya rolled her eyes and told him about the sudden twist her life had take.  
  
"Don't worry My, I'll protect you." Kage said this with great show of his muscles, which were stretched across a tight white t-shirt.  
  
Victor snickered.  
  
Kage turned to him. "Its okay to be jealous. After all we all can't be as well endowed as me."  
  
"Yeah whatever you say man."  
  
Kisha eyed Victor interestingly. The guy was gorgeous, tall, dark hair, and irresistible ever-changing eyes. But while Kage's body was shorter and muscle bound, Victor's was graceful and lanky.  
  
Maya caught Kish's eyes. -I would have a thing with Redfern but I'd rather be involved with Thorsen. -  
  
Kish's eyes shifted to the cabin.  
  
-Yeah- Maya told her. -Even after that-  
  
-You know we can hear everything you say- 


	4. Chapter 4

Maya looked up to Victor's and Kage's smiling faces. She could feel her face grow hot. She had never mastered the art of shielding her mind. "Girls have as much right as boys to think whatever they want."  
  
Their smiles widen.  
  
"Yeah well, we never said you didn't." Victor replied.  
  
Kisha had figured out what was going on and come to Maya's defense. "You idiots need a reality check."  
  
Kage turned his attention to her. He gave her a lascivious look. His whole stance became predatory. He slowly began to move her way and stalk her.  
  
Kisha backed up until her back hit a porch column. He trust his face just a bit above hers, so she was force to look up.  
  
This was supposed to be her territory! Being a predator was nothing new to her but being prey was.  
  
"So you have a hidden desire for me, pet?"  
  
Her eyes dropped and to her chagrin lowered to his full, lushes mouth. "I never said that."  
  
His lips parted to reveal even white teeth. "You didn't have to."  
  
Maya and Victor exchanged looks.  
  
"Ah, sorry to interrupt this 'I-know-you-want-me' thing you got going. And while I'm sure this little line works on other girls, our dear Kish over there is repulse by you. Oh, and yes, then there's the fact that someone wants to kill me!"  
  
Kage moved himself away from Kisha and went to go sit on the porch next to Victor. "Its okay My. There is plenty of me to go around."  
  
"Too much if you ask me." Victor muttered. "Tell me something is it possible for you to keep your pants on for five minutes?"  
  
He instantly sobered. "Don't give me that Redfern bull. That holier-than- thou shit isn't going to work on me. Because while you bring Miss. High- Class home remember I saw with Ella Kinkay."  
  
"The human?" Kisha asked aghast at what this implied.  
  
"You asshole!" Maya yelled at him. "You were calling me trash because I had gone out with Daniel Finch and your going out with a human also?"  
  
He abruptly stood up. "I was using her to feed."  
  
The sudden movement in the nearby bushes drew their attention. Dylan popped out, a staked in hand. His eyes seemed wild and disoriented. Before they had a chance to take defensive mode, he lunged at Victor, the stake pointing towards his heart. 


	5. Chapter 5

Victor didn't even blink. He simply stuck his foot out and tripped him. Dylan gave a small yelp before falling flat on his face. Victor looked down at him "Man, what do you think you're doing?"  
  
When he didn't respond they all surrounded him. Victor nudged his ribs with his foot. "Dylan?"  
  
Maya gently raised his head by his soft, brown hair. A large red bruise was forming on his forehead. "Jesus Christ Victor! You killed him!"  
  
He squatted down and grabbed Dylan by an arm. "Shut up Maya. He simply fainted. Come on help me take him inside."  
  
Kisha and Kage followed them.  
  
"Why do you think he attacked you Vic?" Kage asked him.  
  
"Because he's demented." He answered as they took Dylan to the one room in the cabin. They gently laid him down on the bed.  
  
"Actually Victor," Maya smiled sweetly at him, making him think she was about to say something he'd find uncomfortable. "It was because Ella is his cousin."  
  
He let out a held breath. "Is everybody related in this stupid town?"  
  
"Hey, I hate to be the voice of reason but we need fire if we're going stay here."  
  
Victor looked at Kage like he was out of his mind." Well, I'm not. See you losers later."  
  
Maya's words stopped him on his way out of the door. "They saw you with me. So if they are after me they can use you to get here. You are not leaving anywhere."  
  
"She's right. We're in this together." Kisha turned to Kage. "Even you. You owe me for dirtying my place. So you and I are going to go get some wood for a fire.  
  
Maya found herself acquiring a whole new respect for her. It doubled when Kage meekly accepted her orders. She soon found herself alone with Victor.  
  
She looked at him until he frowned. "What?"  
  
"Nothing, you know you could be a little bit nicer." She answered  
  
"I could but where is the fun in that?" He made his way out of the room into the living room and threw himself on a couch.  
  
She followed him. "When are you going to grow up?"  
  
"I have no idea what you are talking about." He closed his eyes and proceeded to ignore her.  
  
"You wouldn't." She left to go check on Dylan. Victor raised himself up and watched her go.  
  
With a curse he went after her. He found her gently caressing Dylan's hair. He leaned against the door and glowered at her. "Why do you care?"  
  
She met his now dark eyes evenly. "He's a person you know. Just because he's not like us it doesn't mean you should treat him with disrespect. He's not like them either. You could have stopped him instead of tripping him."  
  
"He went after me with a stake!"  
  
She showed no sympathy towards him. "You were doing God knows what to his cousin! How would you have felt if I was your cousin and you found out Dylan was doing the same thing to me you were doing to Ella."  
  
He took two steps and he stood above her. "I would have killed him."  
  
She looked up at him and her mouth went dry. His handsome features were set in rage and his eyes blazed black.  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
They head towards the back of the house where Kisha kept a pile of wood.  
  
"What was that back there?" She asked Kage  
  
He feigned dismay. "What was what?"  
  
"The little seduction scene in front of My and Victor."  
  
He threw his head back and laughed. "Honey that wasn't seduction. When I make up my mind to seduce you, you wont have time to think about it."  
  
"Whatever Kage. It still was stupid. Maya and Victor could have found out we are soulmates.  
  
He eyes her curiously. "I wasn't the one getting jealous over Megan."  
  
She tripped over a twig. His arms instantly shot out to steady her. "Who?"  
  
"Mrs. Trina"  
  
"Oh, " Her eyes narrowed and suddenly tears began to stream. "That hurt Kage."  
  
To her surprise he gently rocked her in his arms. "I know baby but I hadn't meant that to happen. I was feeding and it went overboard. I was."  
  
He stopped. He didn't want to tell her that he had been mad at her because she had refused him. Kage didn't want to tell her that it had become some sort of payback, coming to her cherish place and doing that. Because now it seemed really sick and it weighted him down with guilt.  
  
He pushed her aside. "Its better this way. Not all soulmates are meant to be together."  
  
She wiped away the tears and brought him into focus. "Yes, you are right. Its better this way." 


	6. Chapter 6

It was only when she heard the door slam that she tore her gaze away from his. She found Kisha and Kage quietly making a fire in the hearth. "That was fast."  
  
Kisha looked up and Maya notice dark circles under her eyes. "I had some wood in the back. How's Dylan?"  
  
"Asleep" Victor answered from behind her. Maya notice that he didn't make any wisecrack. In fact nobody seemed like his or her old self. Something had change between all of them and now she wished that it wasn't so.  
  
"I think we should get some sleep. We can head back in the morning. My parents are out of town so it's not a problem for me." Maya told them.  
  
"Mine don't care." Victor said, sitting on a loveseat.  
  
Kage stared into the fire. "I have no parents."  
  
They now all turned to Kisha expectantly. "My parents know I spend nights outside often, so it's not a problem for me too."  
  
Kage turned to look at her. "What are you doing spending nights alone in the woods?"  
  
She smiled cockily at him. "Who said I was alone and in the woods."  
  
Then suddenly the tension was gone and they retrograded back to their laidback selves.  
  
Kage smiled teasingly. "So let me guess, you go to a friend's house in town."  
  
Kisha laughed, surprising Maya. She once remembered a Kisha completely different from the one of the last year and today it seemed that the old one was breaking through. "Actually Kage this is my friend's house."  
  
Dylan's moaning drove them to the room. They found him sitting up and holding his head in pain. "Redfern you're an asshole."  
  
"You asked you for it."  
  
Dylan looked like he was about to jump him again. "You were feeding off my cousin!"  
  
"True"  
  
"What are you guys doing out here anyway?" He looked at them suspiciously.  
  
Kage smiled slyly. "We're performing satanic rituals, what else?"  
  
"You're freaking funny Thorsen."  
  
Maya went to sit by him and explained to him the day's events. He sat through it silently. "I guess its up to me to protect you."  
  
Victor and Kage burst out laughing.  
  
Maya shot angry glares at them. "You'd be more help than these two. What do you think we should do?"  
  
Dylan was grateful at the seriousness of Maya's questions. Usually the Night Worldlers in town didn't take him seriously. "For starters I think we should stay here."  
  
"We've already decided that, genius." Victor told him dryly and was promptly chastened by Maya's look.  
  
"Speaking of which I think Kisha and I should take the bed and you three the living room."  
  
A disgusted look crossed Kisha's face. "There is no way I'm sleeping on that bed."  
  
Victor smiled. "Gee, Kish just because Dylan slept on it, it doesn't mean there's anything wrong with it.  
  
"Haha, no, Kage slept in it with that hussy."  
  
"Hussy?"  
  
Maya took pleasure in telling Dylan of Kage's sexual conquest of their English teacher.  
  
It took about five minutes for Dylan to stop laughing, by then Victor was holding Kage back and Kisha was fuming. Maya had joined in and both howled with laughter on the bed.  
  
" Oh this is rich. Getting dispread aren't you Kage?" Dylan had stopped laughing.  
  
"At least I get some Gallenghar." Kage answered him to which Kisha left the room. "Where are you going?"  
  
"I'm sleeping in the bathroom." Her voice was heard before she shut the door.  
  
Maya stared at the all three guys. "Get out! I have the room"  
  
The two easily gave in except for Dylan who lingered at the door. "But they'll kill me out there." The last thing she saw before closing the door was Dylan's distraught face and Victor's and Kage's smiling ones. 


	7. Chapter 7

**More added to this chapter. Sorry for all the grammar mistakes! I'll try to do better! Thanks to all who reviewed!**  
  
Maya woke just before sunrise. Outside the window the night's darkness grayed as it struggled with the coming sun. In the living room, she found Dylan asleep in the couch and Kage asleep against the door of the bathroom. The door to the cottage was open and outside, leaning against one of the porch's beams, was Victor.  
  
His back was to her and it was shirtless, with all its sleek muscles expose to her eyes. She had the irrational urge to circle his waist from behind and rest her tired head against the glorious back. She bit her lip. -Stupid thoughts, Maya, stupid-  
  
Instead she went to sit down next to him. He didn't even look down to acknowledge her and kept staring into the thicker parts of the woods.  
  
"I couldn't sleep." He told her. "I kept thinking that they are out there and that they want you. Tell me why?"  
  
-He's talking to you like a human. Don't just sit there, answer him!-  
  
"I wish I knew. I was thinking maybe they don't mean any harm. What would they want from me? Maybe it's a misunderstanding."  
  
He looked at her and shook his head. "I don't think so, they attacked us. I hate this you know. I don't want to be part of this."  
  
"I know Victor. How do you think I feel? So far we've been taking this as a joke but this really is serious, but I don't know what to do. I'm scared."  
  
He sat down next to her and gently took her hand. "If I could take away the fear, I would." He honestly told her.  
  
She looked into his eyes, and now they weren't blue or black or any other exotic color they usually were, they were simply brown. "Why do you do that?"  
  
His eyes never lost contact. "Do what?"  
  
"Act like you hate me sometimes and sometimes like you like me?"  
  
He looked down at their intertwined hands. "Because Maya, sometime I do hate you and sometimes I do like you."  
  
She took away her hand. "You don't even know me Victor and you hate me. I don't think that's fair."  
  
He signed. "You're wrong about that you know. I do know you" His gaze again turned to the forest and widen at what they saw.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Kisha opened the bathroom's door only to have Kage fall in backwards. His head thumped on the floor. She looked down and he looked up. He smiled. -Are we going to be okay?- He asked in her mind.  
  
She smiled and nodded. Suddenly, there was a loud noise from outside. It echoed through the house rousing its wake.  
  
And then the fear was back in Kisha's eyes.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
  
There were about twenty of them now. Their ropes flapped against the morning breeze and their bows and arrows were poised to attack. From behind them there was a small commotion and the front row parted to reveal a small dark, hair boy.  
  
His eyes were black and emotionless. His bonny body was all in black. He stared at them for a moment before he raised his arms, cupped his hands, and orange energy began to form.  
  
Victor grabbed Maya and ran in. They closed the door just before they felt the effects of the energy. The house shook and Dylan woke. Kage and Kisha dashed in.  
  
"They're here" Victor told them even as the house trembled against the force of energy that was being sent to it, yet again. "And they have some kind of kid with them."  
  
"Is that what's threatening to bring down this cabin?" Kage asked bracing himself on the couch against a new onset of quakes.  
  
"Is there another way out of here?" Victor asked Kisha, who was now hugging herself and moving her gaze in private panic. "Kisha!"  
  
She stared wide-eyed at him. "No"  
  
"Jesus, are we going to die here?"  
  
Maya scolded at Dylan. "Shut up"  
  
The windows exploded with a boom, glass shards blew into them and sent Kisha huddling in a corner. She closed her eyes and began rocking herself. "Not again, not again."  
  
Kage was instantly at her side. "Kisha, its okay. I'm here honey." He reached out to bring her into his arms put she pulled away.  
  
"Don't touch me! I wont go through it again. Don't touch me!"  
  
Victor crouched down at her side. "Think! You have to think!"  
  
Kage pushed him away. "Stop pressuring her."  
  
"She's our only hope to get out."  
  
Kage turned to her and tried to reach her with his mind. It was like being hit by a brick wall. A high wall of defense guarded her mind. -Let me in baby. Let me in- But it was not use. Her mind to him was blocked and it hurt his heart.  
  
So he broke his promise to her and kissed her.  
  
Their soulmate link connected and their minds merged.  
  
They looked on astonish until Kage broke away. "Move the couch."  
  
Dylan and Victor did what he bid. Under it was a cellar door. They opened it to find stairs that lead under the house. Dylan went in and then Maya. Kage scooped up a fainted Kisha and led her down, Victor had barley latched the door close when the house exploded.  
  
The cellar was a small dark, room full of basic emergency supplies.  
  
"Over there." Kage told them. "Move that shelf."  
  
Under the shelf was another door. Opened, it revealed a tunnel. No matter how hard they squinted against the darkness, nothing could be made out.  
  
"Where does that lead Kage?" Maya asked.  
  
"Deep into the woods. Kisha's friend found this when she bought the house." He said as he and Kisha went in.  
  
"How do you know so much about Kisha?" Dylan asked behind him.  
  
"Because we're soulmates." He told him and Dylan didn't ask anything else.  
  
Maya and Victor looked at each other and followed them, the last one closing the door and casting the group into complete and utter darkness. 


	8. Chapter 8

The walked in darkness for what to them seemed like hours. None of them spoke but they all wondered where they were going. Kage was leading them, following the path that he had glimpse of in Kisha's mind but he himself did not really know what to expect. He had seen Kisha walk this tunnel before but under different circumstances, ones he himself didn't wan to probe to deeply in.  
  
"Where does this take us?" Dylan finally broke the silence.  
  
"To another cabin, deeper into the woods."  
  
"Why would it be connected to another cabin?" Victor asked from behind.  
  
"I don't know. I don't even think Kisha's friend knew why."  
  
"Kage, I hope we get there soon because we need to feed." Maya told him all the while looking at Dylan's neck. He caught her looking and shifted away from her. She teasingly smiled and licked her lips.  
  
"Behave, Maya." Victor warned her.  
  
She turned to him; the same flirtatious smile in place. "Victor, are you jealous?"  
  
He cocked his head to the side, as if contemplating her question. "Yes, I'm immensely jealous."  
  
Her smiled faltered. "I was joking."  
  
His smile grew. "In that case so was I."  
  
Kage turned to them. "I hate to ruin this Days-of-our-Vampire-Lives moment you two are having but the door is ahead."  
  
He was right. The door opened with amazingly ease. The shielded their eyes against the sudden brightness. When they focused their heart sank, as there in that cabin's cellar were the robbed-men and the little boy.  
  
"Wait!" Maya told them, stepping in front of the group even against Victor's firm grip. "Let them go. It's me you want."  
  
The leader stepped forward. "Silly, silly girl. We never said we wanted you." His gaze went pass her to someone behind her.  
  
Maya turned to find Kage's eyes wide with horror and denial because the robbed-man was starring at Kisha.  
  
Maya heard the little boy's laughter just before he sent the orange energy at her knocking her out.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
  
She woke in pain. Her muscles hurt and ached all over. Her head strobed against a headache and, as she felt it, against blood. Her eyes barely opened but from what she was able to see, she was in some sort of holding room, chained to the wall by her feet and waist. The arms were chained over their heads with their hands on them.  
  
A moaning to her side had her turning. "You look awful. "Her scorched throat got out.  
  
Victor managed to form a lopsided smile against the dry blood. "You don't look like beauty queen material either."  
  
She laughed only to turn into choking against her own saliva and blood. "Where's Kage." Dylan was on the other side, still unconscious.  
  
"He was with us but he started to act all weird, like he was being tortured and they took him out of here."  
  
"Do you think he was feeling Kisha's pain? They are soulmates."  
  
He moved around in his chains. "Maybe. Would you?"  
  
"Would I what?"  
  
"Feel my pain."  
  
She rested her head back. "Victor, if we were soulmates I would."  
  
He closed his eyes. "You asked me why I acted like I hated and loved you. That's why. You deny it, you always did."  
  
She didn't know what to say. So she too closed her eyes, and remembered.  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
-Such a funny boy- Maya Kaspar thought as she looked at five-year old Victor Redfern. He sat by himself playing with flowers away from the others. She made her way to him and sat by his side.  
  
Victor looked at her and fell in love with the dark hair, black-eyed, girl. She looked like Snow White. So fair and beautiful and what's more she had come to play with him, since school had started nobody had wanted to play with him.  
  
He shyly smiled and gave her a flower. She took it brushing her hand with his, and in the moment opening her mind to him. She remembered being scared, too many emotions, and too many thoughts. She could feel him in her, consuming her so completely, and so thoroughly.  
  
Maya ran from him  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
  
"I had forgotten." She whispered  
  
He opened his eyes and to her surprise tears shone. "But I didn't."  
  
The door opened and the room filled with light. 


	9. Chapter 9

The robbed men brought her in along with Kage. They tied them up like the rest of them. It was only as they left that Maya notice Kisha.  
  
Maya gasped. "Mother of God! What did they do to you?"  
  
Kisha didn't answer her. In all truth she couldn't see how she'd be able to. Her whole body was beaten and deep bruises marked her body. The eyes were swollen. They barely opened into tiny slits. The once beautiful mouth now was cracked. The face was completely scarred.  
  
Kage didn't fare well either. He was bloodied and marked but by no means as much as Kisha. He seemed on the verge of tears and Maya's heart went out to him. She couldn't bring herself to ask them anything anymore and let it go.  
  
Eventually the calamity of their minds rested and they all went to sleep. Maya dreamt of dark hair little boys and enchanted woods. For a while her being rested but once her thoughts turned to robbed-men, she entered her nightmare again. She woke just before one of the little boys blasted orange energy at her.  
  
"Stop." Kisha's pleading voice echoed in the dark room sending chills down Maya's back. "Please stop."  
  
"She's dreaming." Dylan told her.  
  
They were all awake now. They all stared at the sleeping Kisha, talking in her dream, all but Kage. His eyes were close, as if struggling with his soulmate's demons also.  
  
"What happened?" Maya asked him.  
  
"They tortured her, they tortured me." Kage quietly answered.  
  
"Why?" She asked.  
  
He didn't respond to her right away. "They want her for these stupid woods."  
  
"Who are 'they'?" Victor inquired.  
  
"The Guardians."  
  
Kage began to laugh softly but it then became so manic that Maya wondered if he had lost it. "They are the wardens of this place. They are Night People and humans, they have been here for ages, and they now want Kisha."  
  
"Not that please. Anything but that!" Again Kisha's voice filled the room and halted their's. "But why exactly?" Maya finally spoke.  
  
"They think they made her."  
  
"I don't understand." Dylan told him.  
  
Kage opened his eyes and a disturbing light that they had never seen in him before shone bright. "You will."  
  
They didn't ask him for more.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
  
They came again. This time they unchained all of them and marched them one by one down a stone hall. On closer inspection, they realized that it was a cave and doors of some metal were somehow put on little grottos. They went through another door and found themselves on an open field with the woods beyond it.  
  
Below the entrance of the cave stood hundreds of robbed people. Men, women, and children greedily stared at them. Maya, Dylan, and Victor watched in horror as the front line of robbed-people revealed themselves to be witches and with energy began to raise Kage up in the air.  
  
They set him up on a high beam to the right of the crowd. They themselves were helpless to stop the witches from doing the same to them. They all struggled against chains of magic until they realized that Kisha wasn't with them. She stood half unconscious at the entrance, held by their prisoners.  
  
Form behind her a man approached. He whispered something in her ear and then turned to the four tied up. "She does not believe me that I would kill you."  
  
"Why?" Maya whispered.  
  
To her surprise the man smiled at her. "Why? Because we created her just like we created every child that was a Keeper of these trees. Just like we created little Alexi."  
  
From behind him, he little boy emerged. His eyes held no emotion and his body was tense.  
  
"We don't understand." Dylan told the leader.  
  
The man turned to Alex. "Explain."  
  
And just like that they were connected to the little boy's mind. 


End file.
